Al Khor Towers

The Al Khor Towers are situated in the city of Al Khor in the municipality of Al Khor in Qatar. The municipality is also spelled as Al Khawr.

The Al Khor Towers were built around 1900. They were built on several rocky outcrops guarding the harbor of the town; overseeing the boats of the pearl divers and watching out for pirates. They also guarded access to the well of Ain Hleetan; the main water source that sustained life in Al Khor in earlier times. This well is located next to the rocky outcrop on which the west tower is situated.

All the towers have a diameter of about 4 meters, are built out of mud and local stone and have 60-centimeter thick walls. Access to the towers was by means of a rope. The west and middle tower have the same design and are about 8 meters high. The east tower is more slender and, I think, about 10 meters high.

At the moment there is a lot of redevelopment activity around the towers. Although this doesn't add to the tranquility of the site, it seemed to have given a possibility to excavate the area. So the small parks around them, which you can see on other pictures on the internet, have been removed and you can now actually see the bedrock on which they were built.

At present the area around the Al Khor Towers is freely accessible. Nice towers, too bad you can not get inside and to the top of them.

Gallery

West tower

Middle tower

East tower